News Post

Cavs Fare Well in State Tournament Play

mbutts

Feb19201912:00PM

The 2018–2019 season has been one to remember for Durham Academy’s winter teams, with the boys and girls hoops teams posting history-making seasons, and the boys and girls swim teams making a splash with top-eight finishes in the state swim meet.

Boys Basketball

With a 75–50 victory over Ravenscroft School in the N.C. Independent School Athletic Association state tournament quarterfinals on Saturday, the varsity boys basketball team has punched its ticket to the state final four for the first time since 2006. In the Ravenscroft matchup, DA struck first and jumped out to a 9–2 lead in the first three minutes, with the lead growing to 25 at the half. Ninth-grader MJ Rice had 21 points, while senior Bryant Randleman added 19 and sophomore Cole Sinclair scored 16.

The team will play Greensboro Day School on Friday at 5 p.m. at Ravenscroft, with the winner advancing to the championship on Saturday.

The Cavs are ranked No. 5 in the latest HighSchoolOT poll of area programs and No. 2 in the Phenom Hoops statewide private school rankings. The team — now with a 28–3 record — broke the school record for wins in a season with the squad’s 26th victory over Wake Christian Academy on Feb. 5. Until this season, it had been 15 years since a DA boys team scored 90 points in a game, and this year’s team has done so five times.

For updates on the Cavs' state tournament run, follow @DAathletics on Twitter.

Girls Basketball

The girls hoops team capped a terrific season on Saturday with a heartbreaking loss to Ravenscroft in the NCISAA quarterfinals. The game was back and forth most of the first half, with the Ravens pulling away in the second half to win 49–38. Eighth-grader Joelle Davis led the Cavs with 19 points, while senior Jenny Drury added 9.

Congrats to our 3 DA girls basketball seniors Morgan Doyle, Imani Spence and Jenny Drury for their great hoops careers! Cavs finish 14-13 and advance to the state quarterfinals! @highschoolotpic.twitter.com/2I8VVV3rL6

The Cavs’ path to the state tournament quarterfinals started with a 35–31 first-round win over Cary Academy. In the second round, they went on to upset No. 2-seeded Charlotte Latin School in a 49–48 overtime thriller. In the Charlotte Latin game, Davis had 19 points, including five 3-pointers, and senior Imani Spence had 17 points and 17 rebounds.

Over the course of her five-year varsity career, Spence posted more than 1,000 rebounds, the most in school history. The DA girls finished the season 14–13.

Swimming

The boys and girls swim teams ended their successful seasons with strong showings at the state meet on Feb. 11. The girls team finished in eighth place, an eight-spot jump over last year’s finish. The boys squad was sixth this year, six spots better than last year’s 12th-place finish.

On the girls side, eighth-grader Spencer Jennings led the way with two “A” finals appearances (the only eighth-grader to do so), placing sixth in the 100 backstroke and eighth in the 100 freestyle. Seventh-grader Maya Dolan was 10th in the 200 IM and 15th in the 100 butterfly. Junior Natalie Montefiori placed 15th in the 500 freestyle. All three DA relay teams had top-eight placements, led by a seventh-place finish in both the 200 IM and 400 free. Jennings, Dolan, senior Haley Leversedge and eighth-grader Meghan Phu were on the 200 IM team, while Jennings, Dolan, Leversedge and eighth-grader MacKenna Morris were on the 400 freestyle relay team. Leversedge joined with Phu, Morris and sophomore Quinn Shanahan on the eighth-place 200 free relay team.

The DA girls made a huge splash at the 2019 NCISAA State Swim Meet placing 8th in Division 1. 8th grader Spencer Jennings finished 8th in the 100 Free and 6th in the 100 Back. 7th grader Maya Dolan was 10th in the 200 IM and 15th in the 100 Fly. @highschoolotpic.twitter.com/acXhyGy7jV

The boys were also led by a group of young swimmers, as ninth-grader Alfred Honore earned 25 points for the Cavs with a third-place finish in the 100 butterfly and a ninth-place finish in the 100 breaststroke. Ninth-grader Stewart Roessler added a seventh-place finish in the 500 free and a 10th-place finish in the 200 free. Senior Nathan Dalva-Baird was 12th in the 50 free, and ninth-grader Lars Oehler finished 14th in the 500 free. These four swimmers teamed up to place fifth in the 400 freestyle relay and ninth in the 200 IM. The 200 free team — consisting of senior Jasper Wolf, sophomore Jay Shanahan, junior Jacob Palmer and Dalva-Baird — placed ninth.

The DA boys placed 6th at yesterday's state swim meet. Freshman Alfred Honore placed 3rd in the 100 Fly and 9th in the 100 Breast. Freshman Stewart Roessler was 7th in the 500 Free and 10th in the 200 Free. @highschoolotpic.twitter.com/MKyswgREvm